What’s the verdict on Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker? Is it safe for casual fans of the movies? I’m still in recovery from having watched Episodes I, II, and III (all three plagued with Jar Jar Binks) and I’m having difficulty distinguishing the plots of VII and VIII from IV and V.
Worth rushing to the theater or wait to watch on airline seatback video? (separate question: why do airlines include films in which machines are blown out of the sky?)
Also, what age child can watch this movie without getting upset? (assume that said child is ordinarily mostly sheltered from the dangers of all things screenish)
Your brother-in-law, Gen Y/Millennial nephew and Gen Z nephew gave it a B, and did not regret seeing it. You would have needed to pay me to sit through that movie. They saw it at one of the few family-owned, non-chain theatres left in this country — Midway Theatres in Lewes, Delaware.
You need outstanding bladder control or preparations, thus unsuitable for children under 16. They really should have handed the franchise over to Joss Whedon instead of J.J. Abrams, this installment is quite mediocre.
J.J. Abrams said he isn’t even a fan of Star Wars. It’s just a job for him. Write a story, lots of specials effects, collect a pay check. I havent enjoyed a single movie he’s done, and am still pissed at him for jerking around the “Lost” tv series for 6 seasons, worst finale ever.
All it takes is a bit of education on how Star Wars movies are made, if the kids can understand a bit how the fantasy is made then they will be less scared. I would say around 8 years for most kids. Have not seen the latest, but have seen VII and VIII with my kids, they enjoyed them. As for myself, after watching The Expanse series on Amazon, anything related to Star Wars becomes unwatchable.
We were planning on seeing the The Rise of Skywalker, but senior management decided that a good family movie would be Frozen II. From a technical animation aspect, Frozen II is incredible, one of the best effects in the movie is the ocean. The plot is better than Star Wars VIII and was enjoyable for the family. Please note that Frozen II has kisses and a marriage proposal between two heterosexual characters, this may scare the LGBTQ+/woke crowd.
Notice to readers: Pavel is an admitted foreigner is trying to meddled in our election. This may or may not be a crime!
Happy New Year Phil, thank you for writing.
Anyone who have seen any other Star Wars can watch this one quite fine upsetting-wise.
This part is not that interesting without watching 7 and 8 first. It finishes the story quite nicely.
With this said this movie is absolute trash. It’s a bit better than 8 and much worse than 7. I would say watching at home later is ok, unless you watched 7 and 8 and inpatient to see the ending.
I have to say that I had low expectations and it fulfilled them. If you’re on a flight and have nothing better to do, then it’ll pass the time.
It didn’t strike me a scary at all for kids
I watched it, on day 2 of its release. My view of it is the same as @SK.
In general, if you are a Star Wars fan who watched the original 3 series, you will want to watch this but don’t rush it.
Star Wars has now become predictable, it is the same story over and over with new characters and no creativity, especially the last 3 movies. It’s time for the series to end.
I’ve never seen it, I stopped watching after the original trilogy, figured that was as good as it was gonna get. Nobody has answered the important question, though:
“How does it compare with the all-time high water mark of Sci-Fi movie sequels:
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan?”
(This is also an inside joke for people who have played The Game, back when it was gender binary. Philip should release The Game 2.0 – 150 Genders).
http://philip.greenspun.com/dating
It’s simple entertainment best seen on a huge screen with a good sound system to get the most from the special effects. But you probably should skip it. You don’t seem capable of simply enjoying something that doesn’t portray a deeper meaning…whatever that means!
What was entertaining about Jar Jar Binks and General Grievous?
I don’t think that I typically look for deep meaning in modern cinema. I enjoyed Zoolander and Talladega Nights, for example.
Now that you mention it, I wonder if the problem with the more recent Star Wars is that the movies do attempt to convey some sort of deep meaning. They have the force. Kylo Ren is a tortured soul. The now-obligatory female fighting hero is trying to decide what to do about the Force as well.
The original Star Wars was a Western translated to a modern advanced technological age. The best Westerns didn’t have any deep meaning or characters struggling to make major changes. See https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/20-best-westerns-of-all-time-film-movies-clint-eastwood-butch-cassidy-unforgiven-good-bad-ugly-a7309956.html and https://www.rottentomatoes.com/top/bestofrt/top_100_western_movies/
Mostly there were greedy people fighting over some kind of scarce resource, e.g., gold or land. Nobody adopted a Force-like religion in a classic Western and said “I realize that I don’t need gold to be happy.”
The Mandalorian looks like a really good Space Western, much better than any of the recent Star Wars movies. All Disney needed is a Clint Eastwood cameo in The Mandalorian, but they did get Werner Herzog.
Ha ha…I think you confirmed my post with your answer. No worries…just having fun.
Pavel…I watched the Mandalorian, and yes, you could call that a Space Western.
John Scalzi has an excellent perspective on this movie: https://whatever.scalzi.com/2017/12/15/spoiler-free-observations-on-the-last-jedi/ . I personally think it is worth seeing on the big screen.
@Scott: wrong link, that’s for Episode 8
https://whatever.scalzi.com/2019/12/21/review-the-rise-of-skywalker/